Coward Delivery
by The Akk Attack
Summary: A story of a meeting between two soldiers serving in the earlier months of the Northrend war: Aka the dumb troll rogue, and Allie Magathin the human mage. Also the first story I've written. Based off and named after the in-game questline.


**Author's Note: Hello! I'd just like to say, and this is very important; The entire conversation between Nork and Ug'thor is a pre-written conversation that occurs in-game. I did not write it, or their actions during the conversation. I simply wrote it in story-form. Pretty much everything the two say, perhaps one or two words aside, are not my own words. The quest name is also "Coward Delivery... Under Thirty Minutes or it's Free" which I just shortened.**

**That aside, I do hope you enjoy. **

* * *

"Look at 'em, Ug. You know what those are?"

The orc warden, Nork Bloodfrenzy, kneeled beside his son. Before the two, on the eastern side of the massive Warsong Hold stationed on the end of the Borean Tundra peninsula, a sharp-fenced pen had been erected for pigs. The gray and pink animals snuffled around in the dirt and scattered straw, carelessly waddling around and over a small number of people that either stood, sat or lay in the pen along with the hogs. The people were all dressed in very little; a pale blue-and-white tabard, a shirt, pants, and some with boots. They shivered as the biting tundra breeze swept over them.

The small child to the warden's right squinted at the people and animals inside the pen, some of which looked back either ashamedly, faintly curious or blankly- the pigs- to the conversation going on between the father and son.

"No, popo," Ug'thor finally said solemnly as he shook his head, studying the deserters' lightly-colored skin and faces, "they look kind of like pigs. Are they pigs?"

His father looked derisive. "Those... Those are cowards."

The child looked momentarily confused, twisting some of the red fabric of his vest between his short, sharp-nailed fingers. "Are they cowardly pigs, popo?"

It was Nork's turn to shake his head. "No, blood of my blood" he began, resting his hand on the child's head "they are soldiers of the Alliance. Our sworn enemies."

"But popo, what are they afraid of? Why are they here?"

"They are here because they do not wish to defend their homes... their families... They have given up and surrendered- willingly-" he added, "to us."

The warden caught his son's eye and the boy looked up.

"Ug'thor, they are afraid to die."

Ug'thor nodded off his father's hand and scratched his head, his eyebrows furrowed in thought.

"I... I don't understand, popo." The child stood quietly for a moment, then suddenly rocked forwards to stand on his tip-toes and puffed his small chest out.

"Lok'tar ogar, popo!" He said fiercely.

Nork threw back his head and laughed loudly. "That's right, Ug. Victory or death!"

Standing, the warden looked out at the Alliance deserters and, in broken Common, stumbled out "Hear boy, cowards?" This caught the attention of several nearby deserters, all of whom glanced up in surprise to hear their own language being spoken.

"Boy die!" Nork continued, pointing a finger at his son, "Boy die for freedom!" Turning his back to those people of the Alliance, he crossed his thick arms over his chest and was silent.

The warden's words had stung, yet even so, most of the deserters turned back to whatever they had been doing and forgot about it.

One human woman, sitting in the dirt with her arms around her legs in an attempt to keep warm, ducked her head shamefully.

_[i]What have I done?[/i] _She thought to herself, ignoring one of the hogs as it waddled near and snuffed at her hair.

It had seemed like a good idea at the time. It was cold. She was tired and hurt and cold and sick and terrified. So many friends she had made in the Alliance army had died already out in the tundra's stretching wastelands in some sort of quick, anonymous fight. Someone had mentioned about deserting. The Horde would take them and feed them and keep them somewhere safe as anywhere was safe in the Boren Tundra, and they wouldn't have to fight. There were already so many adventurers and new recruits arriving everyday, the captains wouldn't miss a few people.

That night, the woman had seen those three men sneaking out into the snow in the direction of Warsong Hold. She didn't dare follow, for fear of being caught.

But the next day, and the day after that, and the day after [i]_that,[/i] _she felt she had seen enough sadness and death to last a lifetime. This wasn't the life for _her!_ It had sounded so noble and heroic and glorious to fight in the war waging in Northrend alongside the Alliance. She was young, and ignorant. The war was better left for those valiant, brave heroes... not her.

So, she had left as well, turning over her staff, dagger, the assortment of potions she had concocted or bought and the silly, flimsy robes embroidered with the emblem of the Alliance she had been required to wear as a mage to the disdainful Horde guards outside the Hold. All she had now was the worn tabard, boots, a wool shirt and pants.

At first, being held in the hog pen didn't bother her. Where [i]_would[/i] _the Horde keep the deserters? At least they were fed, even if it was rather unpleasant to eat where pigs slept and ate and answered nature's call. She would have preferred being inside though, where it was warmer and the snow didn't fall on their heads every morning.

But then the doubt and the regret crept up. She wondered what they would do with them all. Was the Horde above killing them all to save themselves the trouble? So far, they hadn't lifted a hand against them, even though there were now more deserters than pigs. Would they cart them back home, or return them to the army? Maybe they would be used as labor around the Hold? The last thought didn't seem so bad.

As the mage mulled over the less-than-pleasant thoughts, she took no notice to the someone walking past the pen. Some of the guards did stop to scowl at them, as did the Horde soldiers and adventurers. It was best to ignore them.

A trollish woman stopped and stood a few yards from the pig pen and the deserters, tilting her head to one side. Her jaw hung slightly open in interest.

The rogue, named Akaljash, had been wandering around Warsong Hold for several days at that point, lost, exploring or carrying out some small chore or task given to her. Those of the Hold that had the misfortune of getting to know her more closely than a passing greeting were careful to direct her away from the more delicate, important matters being carried out, such as the strategic fighting of the invading insect-like soldiers squirming up from the mineshafts outside the Hold.

Even worse were the tanks being used against the force of undead gathering to the south of Warsong Hold. It was likely she would have blasted holes in the side of the Hold if given control over one of the destructive machines, thus she had been turned away at the Landing as well.

She was simple-minded and naïve, but only so in the way a child could be simple-minded and naïve. She wasn't quick-witted or sharp-tongued but she certainly knew how to defend herself and fight, could be quiet and stealthy if she wanted to be, and followed orders surprisingly well and with unfathomable enthusiasm. Thus she was able to be of some use to the Horde in the tundra.

Scratching her head, which was covered in a dark hood that hung down over her eyes- it was obviously too big- the troll stepped up to an orc clad in brilliant red armor standing near the pen. Next to him was an orcish child, staring at the humans and gnomes and dwarves beyond the fence with a newfound dislike.

Reaching the warden, Akaljash raised her hand and grinned widely, showing off a bright but extremely crooked-toothed.

"Hello!" she began brightly, and, pointing at the deserters, "Wha' dey doing here?"

The orcish language was mush easier for her to speak now-a-days, yet she still made the occasional mistake. The typical trollish accent made her words garbled at times.

Warden Nork Bloodfrenzy looked her over, as did his son, and grunted.

Before he could reply, however, Ug'thor spoke up. "Those are cowards!" He began, his tone implying he thought less of them now after his father's lesson than bot fly larvae found in the skin.

"Wha' dey do tha' cowardly?"

Sighing, Nork motioned to his son for silence, as the boy looked ready to inform the stranger of his new opinion of the Alliance. The rogue watched the two, expectant.

"Deserters" the warden rumbled. Akaljash stared blankly at him, hoping for a more in-depth explanation. Seemingly hatching an idea in his head, Nork continued.

"We're seeing these deserters show up at our gates with each passing day. We simply do not have enough room to keep these maggots caged up. Especially not if we want to keep the pigs happy." He snorted with distaste, then laughed slightly and glanced to see if the troll was listening. She was staring with interest at the red-inked tattoos on his arms.

The warden cleared his throat, and the troll snapped her head up. "Aka listening!"

"I want you to escort one of these cowards to the crossroads east of here, and..." he looked around, then pulled a small metal object from his belt, handing it to the troll, "and fire this flare gun. One of their captains will show up when they see the flare and take the coward off your hands."

Akaljash was still for a moment, running the instructions through her head and staring at something behind the warden. Momentarily, he thought assigning the task to this odd troll a mistake, when she suddenly focused her eyes on him and saluted clumsily. "Ja ja! Aka do."

Turning, she began marching down the path in the direction as instructed, away from the warden, his son, the pig pen and the deserters

With a sigh, Nork turned to the deserters and after a moment, pointed at one of them and motioned after the troll. "Follow." He grunted, again in Common, and the mage woman obediently but slowly picked herself up and dusted the dirt off the back of her tabard. Not completely understanding what was going on, she took a confused step towards the gate, which the warden held open. The human glanced between Nork and the troll before a more growling "Follow!" from the orc sent her at a run after the rogue.

The human finally caught up to the quickly walking troll near the guarded iron gate at the foot of the steep hill that lead to the wide-open fields of the tundra beyond the Hold. The guards said nothing, letting them pass.

The troll looked back at her as they climbed the rise, smiling but saying nothing. Every few steps, when the hill became exceptionally steep, she would lean forwards to lightly touch the ground with a hand, pushing herself up the path.

The human felt herself becoming uneasy. Where were they going? Why was that troll smiling all the time? What was she planning on doing to her once they were out of sight of the hold? Was she going to kill her? Torture her?

It was difficult to will her feet any further at the thought, away from the last gate of the Hold, and she shuddered with both the cold and fear. It didn't help that, despite the boots, her feet were numb with cold and stiff, difficult to walk on. She couldn't even begin to wonder how the troll went around in the tundra barefooted.

One of the two orcish guards posted at the gate snorted when she noticed the mage's abrupt change in posture, taking on that of one about to sprint away. While the human felt she could stand their derision, she knew she [i]_couldn't[/i] _stand an axe severing her spine if she tried running away.

Reluctantly, she quickened her pace until she evened out again with the troll, who was walking as casually as if she was merely strolling through a park on a sunny day. Behind them, the human could hear the two guards chuckling lowly.

The world opened up for miles around them, and when the human took a moment to let herself somewhat enjoy the beauty of her surroundings, she let her eyes wander to the sky where the northern lights waved silently above them like giant, luminous streamers in a slow wind. As if conjured up by the mere thought of it, a crisp breeze crept through her clothes and set her teeth to chattering. She wished for something similar to whatever the troll was wearing, it was obviously keeping her warm.

Angling downwards, the road took to hugging the side of a jagged rocky cliff, sinking below the rise of the ground on either side of it. The mage remembered walking up this way when she deserted on the Alliance, and sighed regretfully.

There was a slight scuffling sound, and the human returned her gaze back to earth, away from the eerie sky in time to see the troll stumble over a rock protruding out of the road.

"Aka canna' [i]_see[/i]_," the troll complained, trying to push the edge of her hood out of her eyes.

The mage felt inclined to say some sort of snide remark, having developed an immediate distrust of the troll, but the months spent in the army had broken her wit. Snide remarks- stupidly directed at higher-ranking officers and with horrible timing- usually resulted in some sort of punishment. Besides, the mage knew only basic Orcish, taught to her by both the rare friendly goblin in neutral towns and a draenei she had met in Stormwind.

A growling cut her thoughts short, and the two looked up to see several grey tundra wolves snarling up from the rocky ledges on the side of the cliff.

"No! Bad dogs!" The troll shouted, as if they were simply disobedient house mutts. The reaction took the mage by surprise, but was hugely thankful when the troll shooed the wolves away by shouting something else in an odd-sounding language -probably Zandali- and throwing rocks at them. They climbed up the ledges and disappeared over the lip of the ridge as the human let out a huge sigh of relief.

Until they were past the cliff, the mage did not look away from the ledges, fearing the wolves would return. Even once they were a safe ways away, she craned her neck to watch over her shoulder. In doing so, she took notice of the still-rising crest of the hill as they walked lower and lower towards the marshes. The Hold was out of sight.

Out of sight! Panic gripped her, and she eyed the troll's back suspiciously. Would the troll kill her now? With no one around to see? She doubted the guards would have cared if the rogue and turned and gutted her then and there though. She was defenseless: Tired, extremely cold, with no spell components or staff or robe, which she had stitched runes into herself to enhance her spells' power. She didn't know any spells to instantly kill, and the troll would have more than enough time and strength to kill [i]_her[/i] _even if she hit it with some weak fire spell.

But nothing happened. The troll continued to walk, casually and slowly, taking her time, looking around at the odd, crimson plants that grew up along the road and the gracefully fluttering giant moths that dropped powdery dust from their wings down to the dry grass.

An idea came to the mage as she eyed the dagger at the troll's belt. The troll had the dagger loose in the sheath, and her hands looked clumsy and careless. If she could just get the knife away, maybe she could... what? Kill it?

_[i]Don't give her the chance to kill [/i]_you, the mage decided, and, after checking to be sure the troll was looking away, reached for the knife, intending to rip it from the sheath and stab the rogue through the heart.

Her numb fingers were just brushing the hilt when the troll stopped and turned around. She snatched her hand back on impulse. [i]_I should have grabbed it![/i] _She quailed, now thinking the troll was finally going to end her.

"Aka is Aka," the troll began, much to the mage's surprise. She was silent, wondering if the troll would say more. What was she doing? Her Orcish was rusty, and she couldn't recall what the word "aka" meant. In the case it meant anything threatening, and the troll was cruelly informing her that she was about to die, the human woman looked around for rocks or sticks she could use in some pitiful defense.

Looking expectant, the troll patted herself on the chest. "Aka!"

The mage shook her head, not understanding and intending not to let her guard down.

The troll tried again, "Ah-[i]_kuh[/i]_" and thumped herself on her chest.

Deciding to go with it, the human nodded and repeated the word. "Aka."

The troll's face lit up- the half she could see, the upper half being hidden under the hood- and she bounced somewhat on her feet.

"Ja! Ja! Aka is Aka! You name?" Her words were fast, but the mage managed to catch most of them, and now realized her mistake. [i]_Duh.[/i]_

"Your... name is Aka?" She stumbled out.

"Ja! Ja! You name?"

"Name?"

"Ja!"

Taken aback at the troll's- Aka's- enthusiasm and the energy she put into her words, the mage patted herself on the chest as well.

"Allie." She didn't bother giving her full name or some false name. What did it matter?

"Dat pretteh name." Aka stated, nodding as if it was a fact. It took Allie a moment to distinguish her words through the accent.

"Er... thank you." Still not letting her guard down, but now beginning to feeling guilty for having made to kill this odd troll, Allie decided to ask "Aka" where they were going as the question had be gnawing at her since she left the pen, since she didn't feel in any immediate danger now.

"Where-" Allie started, but the word died on her lips when she noticed the troll was leaning in close to her, their faces now inches apart.

Changing questions, Allie tilted back uncomfortably. The troll's breath was foul, and the closeness unnerving.

"What are you doing?"

"Allie 'ave dirt all oveh Allie face."

"Oh," the mage made an unconscious swipe at her face and brought her fingers away, checking for said dirt. The pads of her fingers were clean though. She looked expectantly at the rogue.

"Naw," Aka said, shaking her head. "Still dere." She reached up and touched the bridge of Allie's nose and then the curve of her cheekbone with her forefinger in indication. Allie turned her head away from the touch, and the troll's hand fell away, unoffended. "Leet'l spots."

A thought came to the human, and she almost laughed.

"That's not dirt. That's..." She was at a lost for the word in Orcish. She [i]_did[/i] _have a splash of freckles across her nose and cheeks. She wondered if trolls or orcs had freckles. It _was_ strange to think of.

"Spots?" Aka tried filling in the missing word for her. "Allie sick?"

"No, I'm not sick." It was so absurd that this time she _did _laugh. Here she was, trying to explain to a troll was freckles were.

Again, Aka leaned in to peer at the mage's freckles, this time pulling back the hood out of her eyes. It slipped down around her shoulders, showing how flimsy it really was, and for the first time since the troll had turned back to smile at her by Warsong Hold's gate, Allie was able to get a good look at her.

The troll had a mop of short, ruffled hair that barely reached past her heavy-with-piercing earlobes, the same color as the spongy, wet moss that grew in bunches on forest rocks: A rich, dark green.

Her eyes were bright amber, which was a first for Allie. She assumed all trolls had bloody red or yellow eyes, from those she had seen in neutral towns.

The troll's skin was a light greenish with a tint of blue, with a darker flush to her face with the cold air and wind.

Allie noticed all this within a few seconds before she had to step away again and take a breath. She didn't exactly know how to tell a troll about the now-obvious importance of oral and bodily her short tusks weren't dirty or stained or anything that would have been expected with them being merely two excessively-large teeth, and she would be a hypocrite if she complained about the sour smell of body odor. She knew she reeked as well, after the days spent in the hog pen with the other deserters and the nervousness that had broken into sweat.

The thought of the hog pen reminded her of the question she had intended to ask.

"Oh! Uh... Where are we going?" Allie inquired, bringing the troll's attention away from where she had been likewise studying the other. She found the human's light skin, long reddish-brown hair and slight features- in comparison to a troll's, anyway- extremely reminiscent of the Sin'dorei- blood elves- that Aka so greatly adored.

"Dat way," Aka pointed down the road to the east.

"Where?" Allie prodded, feeling frustration creeping up as Aka turned and started down the road again.

"Aka show!" The rogue replied cheerily, not slowly or stopping. Allie had to jog to catch up.

_[i]Just as well,[/i] _she thought, seeing her breath coming out in small puffs of hot steam in the cold air, [i]_I probably need to exercise after all those days in the pen. She's probably taking me to some other Horde outpost, since there was so little room at that hold for... deserters...[/i] _Even thinking the word was difficult, and she didn't know if her cheeks burned with shame or the cold.

As they walked, Allie recalled the conversation just minutes earlier. This troll wasn't going to kill her, or even hurt her. She was obviously harmless, and no, she didn't see anything wrong with changing her judgment so quickly with only a small amount of interaction to back it up.

Allie had already known for some time at that point that the stories told by parents and teachers to the younger people about how bloodthirsty and merciless and horrible the people of the Horde could be were mostly false, or stretched. She had met them all in neutral towns while spending the nights there on her many travels. Although trolls were unnerving, as were the undead, and blood elves rather stuck-up or downright cruel, she found most tauren and orcs to be somewhat polite and collected, as the safety of the goblin towns seemed to bring down certain walls between most people of Horde and Alliance alike.

It was quiet between the two, except for the drone of the wind. When Allie strained her ears to hear through the low moan of rushing air, however, she heard the sharp cry of an eagle somewhere high above their heads, and then caught the grating bellow of an unseen mammoth's trumpeting. She returned her attention to the path ahead of her.

Down the road, there was a crossroads of sorts, with a tall signpost stuck with wooden boards etched with names pointing in different directions down several paths.

At the crossroad, Aka stopped, and Allie assumed she was checking the signs for the right direction they were supposed to head in. As she waited, she padded over to the edge of the embankment and looked out across the plains. Farther off there were some small ponds, it seemed, from which steam billowed up from. Hot springs probably. Closer still was a herd of caribou grazing and running through the grass, their pale fawns springing along the sides of their parents.

There was a sudden bang behind her, which scattered the caribou herd, and a fizzling sound that faded as if it was getting farther away.

Spinning around, Allie saw Aka standing beneath the signpost, holding a metal flare gun in her hand. Smoke drifted out of the end, and a long trail of white steam rose high into the air in an arc. At the top of the arc was a glowing red flare signal that burning brightly as it reached the top of the arc, fell and went out.

"What was th- !" Allie gasped, flabbergasted, in Common, but remembered who she was talking to and reverted to Orcish. "What was that for!"

"Orc tell Aka to," Aka said as she lowered the gun, looking hurt from being yelled at and confused, as if she was being questioned on why the sky was blue and the obvious answer being rejected (she knew that everyone knew the sky was blue because the Loa said it was to be that color).

Feeling foolish for yelling and now scolding herself for being so rash, Allie calmed herself and nodded. "Right, I'm sorry." She had been just as startled as the scattering caribou.

Aka was obviously signaling for some Horde guard to come and take her to whatever outpost she was being sent to for-

"Orc say Aka need take Allie to crossroads down da road. Den Aka use dis," at this point she waved the flare gun around, smoke still trickling from it "and dat bring a Allence... uh... 'Liance..."

"Alliance...?" Allie corrected quietly.

"Ja ja!" A 'Liance cap'n to come an' take dis coward off Aka hands! Dat Allie. Oh, wai', Aka sorreh. Allie no coward. Wai'..." Aka thought back to the pig pen, and Warden Nork, and looked sadly at Allie. "Ja, orc say Allie coward. Is Allie a coward?"

"No! I mean, yes! I mean... the [i]Alliance[/i] is coming for me now?" She cried, clutching the sides of her head in disbelief.

"Ja ja. Allie go back to 'Liance! Da' good, ja?" Aka smiled sincerely, happy for the one she considered her new friend.

"[i]No![/i]" Allie wailed, looking around for someplace to possibly run. If this was all planned out, the escort and delivery, she was being turned in as a deserter. Deserters were hung.

"Why Allie sad?" Aka was looking upset too, afraid she might have said something to hurt the mage's feelings. "Allie like da Horde mo' den 'Liance?"

"I [i]hate[/i] the Horde, now!" The human snapped, not caring how childish she sounded saying that.

"Oh..." Aka looked hurt, her shoulders sagging. "Why?"

"Because- oh, I don't have time!" Now in a state of panic, Allie was running around the clearing of the crossroads, not knowing exactly what she was looking for but no taking the time to consider it.

Spinning around to face the hopelessly confused troll, she took an uneven breath and spread her hands out in front of her.

"Aka," she began, using the troll's name for the first time, "I need to go."

"But orc say-"

"I'm going to go."

Aka frowned, then looked sadly down at the ground. "Ja ja..." She sighed. "Aka tell 'Liance dat Allie need go, okeh?"

"Don't!" Allie growled fiercely, and, turning on her heel, ran off into the marsh to the west, leaving the troll standing beneath the signpost shouting "Why Aka no tell?"

Allie had only ran a few hundred yards, the feeling of finally being free, and running like her instincts had been screaming at her to do since she'd left the Hold being too much of a relief to stop. She had some idea as to where she was going. Find a neutral or Alliance supply ship, find some way to get aboard and take it back to the southern continents. Sneak home to her mother and young sister and infant brother in their little house in Elwynn Forest. Hopefully her father would still be away, fighting wherever he was needed. He'd probably know that she wouldn't have been able to just up-and-leave the army.

She slowed to a trot, and then an all-together stop. The mage waited and listened for the sound of pursuit, holding her breath. The cold air and unaccustomed exertion had caused her breath to begin wheezing in her throat, and she coughed violently before listening again. She could hear hoof beats, but they were still extremely far-off. Hopefully Aka wouldn't rat her out, point the Alliance in the direction the deserter had run off in.

An uncomfortable thought hit her. What would the Alliance do when they found Aka?; A lone troll, a good ways away from the Hold, signaling to them and having no reason for it when they finally got there? Or perhaps the Alliance killing a Horde scout on a perfectly innocent mission would set off distracting problems between the two factions' very-near central bases.

Allie realized she felt sorry for the troll. Not only because of her current predicament, but because of how childish she seemed. It was almost pitiful for her to be fighting in such a bloody and brutal war.

Making up her mind to return unnoticed and see how things played out, Allie turned and ran straight into said troll.

"Aka follow!" Aka exclaimed after catching and steadying the momentarily frightened human, who had almost knocked the rogue down as well, and showed off her unpleasant grin.

Shrugging off the feeling of relief at seeing the troll safe, Allie couldn't help but smile back, but remembered to keep her voice down after shushing the overly-loud rogue. "You were quiet. I didn't hear you!"

"Ja ja, Aka sneaky! Why Allie no wan' Aka to tell?"

Struck silent for a moment, Allie didn't know if she was going to laugh or clap her palm to her face. "Because it'd be bad if you told. They would be... mad." She wasn't sure how to explain it in the "simplified" way Aka seemed to need things be explained.

"Dey hurt Allie?"

"They [i]_kill [/i]_Allie- er, me."

Aka looked horrified. Someone would kill her new friend?

"Aka glad Aka no tell!"

"Me too," Allie let the words out in a sigh. "Now what happened with them, the Alliance?"

Allie looked with dismay at the clods of dirt torn up by her small feet in the marshy mud, and the much-larger, two-toed footprints mingling with it. "Are they following?"

"Naw! Aka make sure. One 'uman on a funneh horse come, an' look around. Aka hide in bushes. 'Uman leave! An' 'Uman no look fo' feet marks. 'Uman not smart, like Aka!"

"That's good," Allie nodded, a motion tinged with sarcasm at the troll's later statement, but was cut short by a squeaking cough. Aka frowned, looking concerned.

"Allie_ [i]is[/i] _sick. Aka take back ta Horde, ja ja? Since Allie no like da 'Liance. Oh wai'... Allie say Allie no like da Horde neidda. Where Allie wan' go?"

"Home," the mage mumbled wistfully.

"Aka an' Allie go home den!" Aka announced.

Allie considered this for a moment. She couldn't possibly steal away aboard a ship heading back to any Alliance-controlled port with a nearly seven-foot-tall troll at her back. If there were any neutral trading ships bringing supplies to the troops, she figured she could always work to pay for her passage on the voyage to the southern continents.

"No, Allie- I mean," Allie finally did clap her palm to her forehead and grumbled before continuing, "I am going home... alone."

"Alone 'cept fo' Aka, ja ja?" Aka suggested excitedly, clasping her hands together in front of her.

"Ah, no. Alone, meaning... No Aka. Just Allie." Allie pointed with one hand at herself, the other waving a dismissive arc in the troll's direction for visual support.

"Oh," Aka's face fell, and her already rounded shoulders slumped. "Dat okeh. Aka seen 'uman places b'fo'... dey not nice. Lo'sso scareh 'umans guards dat walk 'round an' chase Aka."

"And I can't come home with you, because there are... scary _orc _guards that would chase _me._"

"Ja! Dat okeh if dey bad 'Liance peop'a t'ough. Bu' not okeh if dey Allie."

Allie grinned, pushing some of her rust-colored hair out of her face that had fallen from the loose ponytail it was held in. "I'm glad you see it that way. Uh... thank you, Aka."

The troll tipped her head in confusion. "Fo' what?"

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Allie had somewhat began her explanation before the troll suddenly interrupted, exclaiming loudly "_Oh!_ Aka 'membah! Aka no tell 'Liance where Allie go. Ja ja!"

"Well, that works. Yes, thank you for that." She decided it would be for the best to not bring up her earlier fear of Aka killing her. That would- seeing the previous pattern of confusion and questioning on Aka's part to most things Allie said- be for the best in the consideration of time.

A small fleck of snow drifted down from the rapidly darkening sky down between the two. Aka watched it closely with fascination, then she grimaced.

"Dat stuff cold."

"Quite," the mage nodded, rubbing her arms as prickles of cold ran across her already numb skin with the first gusts of snow-proceeding wind. It didn't look to be the coming of any great blizzard, but with the sleeveless tunic the woman was wearing it would definitely feel like such.

"I'll be going now, then," Allie muttered, anxious to find someplace warm for the night before searching the tundra's coast for promising ships to take herhome. Yet the idea that this exceedingly slow troll would remain here, in this wasteland of war, was surprisingly saddening.

Biting back a tooth-rattling chatter, Allie offered the troll a small smile which was immediately returned in a flash of dirty teeth and stained tusks. "Be careful. Don't die," she said lamely as she made to turn away, despite it being her thoughts exactly.

"Allie is cold!" Aka said in reply, as the human's words _had _stuttered slightly with chill. She pulled at the lacing of her cloak and they untangled from the seemingly careless knot they had been tied in, the cape sliding to the frozen ground in a pile of thick fur and hide. The troll picked it up, neglecting to shake the bits of dirt, flecks of snow and dried leaves out of it before handing it to the entirely incredulous mage.

"Really?" She asked in grateful surprise, overjoyed at the offering but reluctant to deprive the green-haired rogue of such a helpfully warm garment.

"Ja ja! Aka no' want. Smell bad. Aka fall wit' it on into somet'in' oddah day."

"Oh... so you did," Allie wrinkled her nose as the troll deposited the wad of cloak into her arms, a wave of nauseating stink- it smelled like mud and mammoth feces- rolled into her face. Holding her breath and wondering how in the world she had missed the reek, the mage quickly unraveled it and slung it across her shoulders. It was far too long for her and puddled at her ankles, but it was instantly warming none-the-less.

"Thank you," she said again, pouring as much thankfulness into her words as was possible in the gruff, foreign Orcish language as she tied the lacings so it settled somewhat comfortably on her shoulders.

"Ja ja! Allie keep! Now Aka go so Allie can go home," Aka stated, before suddenly turning on her heels and strolling into the direction of the road. The snow was falling in earnest now, the sky a thick blanket of cottony grey clouds.

Taken aback, Allie waved slightly at the retreating troll.

"Goodbye, then," she said as the troll stepped through the scrubby brush at the edge of the clearing. Between the reddish bushes, snow-brushed brown dirt, muted grey clouds and her mottled brown-and-black clothing, the troll's brilliant shock of green hair and oddly greenish skin contrasted almost comically with the surrounding earthy tones. Aka twisted around and waved energetically over her shoulder at the mage's words.

"Ja ja!"

When the rogue was gone from sight, Allie shifted the cloak around her frame and sighed as she pulled the hood up to protect her unfeelingly cold ears and jaw.

"Hmph, weird troll." She muttered to herself, turning towards the rest of the spreading field of alien flora and trudged out into the unforgiving plains of the tundra.


End file.
